A surgical instrument is provided in accordance with the present invention to aid a surgeon in preparing a bone site. Specifically, the surgical instrument is formed to aid a surgeon in sizing and preparing a pre-determined bone site for one of numerous length plates.
Drill guides for orthopaedic use are known. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,927 to Houston et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,399 to Lowery et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,721 to Hearn. These references are incorporated herein for teaching the general purposes and situations of drill guides.
According to the present invention, a variable position bone drilling guide apparatus is provided. The guide apparatus includes a template that is formed to include apertures therethrough and drill towers extending from the template in general alignment with the apertures. The first drill tower includes at least one drill passage therethrough and the second drill tower includes two drill passages therethrough. The duel passages in the second tower provide a surgeon with greater than one drill alignment option for a bone plate.
In preferred embodiments, the template of the guide apparatus includes separate locking and sliding bodies and the one of the drill towers is coupled to each body. In addition, a telescopic mechanism extends between the sliding and locking bodies to permit movement of template between an expanded position and a retracted position. Thus, guide apparatus telescopes in order to size and prepare a bone site for one of numerous length bone plates within a family of plates. The telescopic mechanism includes a lock bar that is coupled to the locking body and formed for sliding movement relative to the sliding body. In addition, a button is coupled to the sliding body to couple the lock bar and prevent movement of the lock bar relative to the sliding body.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.